


distance between us

by falloutmars



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Confessions, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, Pining, Prep School, also they dont live together, canon compliant except betty and jughead have been just friends the whole time, kind of tropey, season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 15:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21056729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falloutmars/pseuds/falloutmars
Summary: jughead moves to prep school and tells betty via text





	distance between us

Jughead has gone. And he told Betty via _ text_.

Okay, he hasn’t _ gone_, but he is moving schools.

Still. A text? She thought their friendship was - is - worth more than that. All she gets is a simple text the day before school starts up again that says:

_ Hey Betts. I didn’t know how to tell you this in person. I’m not staying at Riverdale High for senior year. I’ve been offered a place at a prep school across town through that writing contest, and it’s a really good opportunity. I have to board Monday to Friday but I’ll be back at weekends to hang out. I start tomorrow. I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I’ll miss you. Good luck on your first day. _

Her best friend isn’t going to be completing senior year with her. He’d only just returned back from Southside High and now she is losing him again. She knows she’s probably being a bit dramatic but their friendship has never been the same since he moved to Southside High, even though he was only there for a few weeks. She felt like she lost him then and she feels like she’s losing him again. 

The truth is, and Betty’s never admitted it out loud, she likes Jughead. It started as a simple crush, but after the Archie situation at the beginning of sophomore year, she tells herself she never will admit it out loud to Jughead. She almost messed up her friendship with Archie and she can’t, won’t, risk messing it up with Jughead. So she keeps quiet, halfheartedly willing for those feelings to go away. 

Fast forward by almost 2 years and they’re still here. She’s pretty sure she’s in love with him but she’s also pretty sure he does not feel the same. Best friends it is. _ Best friends is enough_, she tells herself. 

But when he sends her a text to tell her he’s moving schools, it barely even feels like they’re best friends anymore. 

So yeah, she’s hurt. Yeah, she’s probably overreacting. But she loves him and she’s going to miss him so much.

— 

First week of senior year puts Betty in a bad mood. She misses seeing Jughead during school, her teachers have already given her too much to do and on top of that, she has to put up with third-wheeling Veronica and Archie without Jughead’s company. She’s resorted to spending most of her time at the Blue & Gold office so she can be sad without prying eyes. And if she’s being entirely honest with herself, she doesn’t think anyone’s noticed. 

But she’s Betty Cooper so she gets through it. The first week, at least. She puts up with Veronica and Archie, she lets her teachers pile on the work with no complaint and she continues to miss Jughead. 

Ah. Jughead. Her best friend. Her best friend who she is in love with. Her best friend who doesn’t _ know _ that she is in love with him. The same best friend who she hasn’t heard from all week. 

She‘s tried texting him, many times, to see how he’s getting on, but she’s been met with no replies. It isn’t entirely unlike him, so maybe she’s being unfair, but she’s just so pissed off at him. 

(In other words, senior year is getting to her already.)

So on Friday evening when she‘s finally ready to settle down for the night with a fluffy blanket and crappy rom-com, the knock on the door pushes her over the edge. 

“Fuck off,” she mutters to no one. She’s home alone, of course. Her mother is, well, gone so it’s just Betty. Usually, she hates it, but right now it’s exactly what she needs. But not what she can have apparently. 

With a sigh, she stands up from under her blanket and walks towards the door. She opens it.

“Hey, Betts.”

It’s Jughead. 

For possibly the first time, Betty thinks, _ I am not in the mood for you_.

She lets it show in her voice. “Jughead. What do you want?” 

He shifts around nervously. “Uh, well, I‘m home for the week. And thought you might want some company.”

She stands to the side, allowing him to walk in and closes the door behind him. Not that she really wants to let him in, but it’s cold outside and she wants to close the door. 

“Thanks,” he mumbles. “Can I, uh, sit?”

She snaps. “What do you want, Jughead?”

He’s taken aback by her tone; she’s never been like this with him. 

“I missed you,” he says in a small voice. “And I thought we could have a movie night or something. I know you don’t like being alone.”

He shuffles around slightly, while one hand finds its way up to fiddle with his hat. A nervous habit Betty recognises. She momentarily feels bad before remembering that he ignored her all week. She decides to tell him as much.

“What makes you think I’d want to see you after you’ve ignored me all week?” she snaps, turning her back on him as she walks over to her abandoned blanket. Angrily, she pushes it on the floor, disappointed at the lack of thud, and sits in its place. She shoves her head into her hands, trying to maintain some composure. 

She hears him walk towards her before he speaks once again. “Betty.” He sighs. “You know I started my new school this week. I’ve had a lot to sort out so I’ve just been busy.”

She moves her head from her hands to look up at him. She can’t help but think that he looks really good tonight, even when she is angry with him. 

She snaps at him regardless. “Oh, you’ve been busy? I thought we were best friends, Jughead. You knew how stressed I was with starting senior year and my mom being gone. So you drop that bombshell on me, via text! And then ignore me for a week!” 

Jughead is surprised by her raised voice, visibly wincing. Betty feels a sliver of guilt within her anger. 

“I didn’t ignore you on purpose; they’re funny about phones so I couldn’t reply,” he replies with a gentle voice. “And I’m sorry about not telling you. I tried so many times but...” 

With that, he trails off, not knowing what else to say or do. He hears her sigh, before she stands up and makes eye contact with him for the first time this evening. 

“I don’t want your excuses!” she half-yells. 

“Well what do you want then? I come here after missing you all week and you start shouting at me! What the fuck, Betty?” he finally snaps. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she says, still angry but a hint of sadness shows in her voice. She looks away from him and starts pacing around the room. 

“Because I love you!” he yells after a moment. He continues slightly calmer before she can react. “I was being selfish. I knew how upset you’d be and I didn’t want to see that. Because I love you. So there, now you know.” 

Betty freezes. _ Wait what? _ She wasn’t expecting that.

She’s facing away from him so neither can see the others reaction. She frowns at his words, confused, while he manages to stay composed even though he feels like crying at her lack of immediate reaction. 

A few moments of awkward silence pass. Betty hears Jughead sigh before walking over to her from behind. He places a gentle hand on her shoulder. She spins around suddenly to face him, but she can’t bring herself to look him in the eyes. She feels like her whole world is whirling out of control and that looking at him will make it real.

They stand in silence with Jughead holding Betty’s shoulders for what feels like forever. 

He breaks the silence with a whisper. “Betty, please say something.” 

He moves his hands from her shoulders to her face, gently forcing her to look at him. Their eyes meet. Hers are filled with tears and his are full of love. They stare at each other intensely, neither wanting to ruin the moment.

Several minutes pass without any movement. Betty is the first to crack. 

“Juggie...” she murmurs, no trace of anger remaining in her voice. “Do you mean that?” 

Her heart beats rapidly as she waits for an answer. 

“Of course,” he says gently. He gives her a small but genuine smile. As he drops his hands from her face, she catches them in hers. It’s a comforting gesture, but there’s something more to it than just that. 

He doesn’t have too long to dwell on it as she begins to talk again. 

“You know I love you too right?” she says in a whisper. She’s almost too scared to speak any louder in case it breaks the moment they’re sharing. 

“Really?” he asks.

She nods, smiling brightly at him. 

He grins back. He looks down at their hands before looking back up. His eyes flicker between her eyes and her lips. She nods once more, giving him a knowing look.

Then, he leans forward, pressing his lips against hers in a gentle kiss. It’s better than either could ever imagine.

They pull back, both unable to keep big smiles off their faces. 

“I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier, Jug. It’s not an excuse but it’s been one of those weeks,” Betty says.

“I’m sorry for this past week, too, Betty,” Jughead replies, resting his forehead against hers. 

“But, hey, it’s definitely ending better than it started,” she teases.

“For sure.” He grins once more. He does a lot around Betty.

“So then, Jug, tell me about prep school?” she says as she grabs his hand and pulls him onto the sofa.

He falls on top of her and says, “Or, we could do this,” leaning down to kiss her, taking advantage of their new position.

She giggles against his lips.

Their kiss is full of passion and love. They both put everything into it. 

After the week from hell for the both of them, they finally have everything they want with each other.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed this!


End file.
